Pest or Disease on Sarr Rubra?

[PolishJeff]

Hey everyone,

The first two pitchers thrown up by my Sarracenia Rubra are spotted and a bit deformed. I've never seen this before on any of my Sarrs. What do you think? Here are some photos I took this morning. I hope you can see. I was thinking some bug decided to make a snack while my rubra was exiting dormancy, but I don't know. Any help would be great!

Here is the whole plant.

 

[Brokken]

No pics are showing for me.

 

[Frilleon]

Hey your a bay area native! You a memeber for the BACPS? If not you should be :grin:. Anyway I can't see pics either.

 

[SirKristoff]

not seeing anything either just quote and copy the links

 

[Veronis]

They weren't linked quite right. Here are the links to the pics Jeff is trying to show (Jeff if you change your image links to these, it will fix it):
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4518736650_69a7b6c11f_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4518101893_85aeec1f51_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4518102565_c5efa0fcbf_b.jpg

I can't offer any insight as to exactly what it is from looking at the pics, but it does look like some kind of pest.

 

[Frilleon]

I don't see anything alarming. Sometimes the first set of pitchers for the year come out a little funny. I had a pitcher develop about a month ago that came out oddly deformed. No pests to speak of and the next pitcher is just fine. If this keeps happening or gets worse then I would be concerned. Hopefully the next couple pitchers will be fine.

 

[Not a Number]

Those scabs or scars could be caused by thrips. I would isolate/quarantine the plant for the time being. Keep a close watch on it. Thrips are tiny and difficult to spot. Some even go through a phase where the borrow into and live in the leaf tissue. A systemic insecticide should control thrips. Check the label before buying and applying.

 

[Veronis]

I had thrips last year.

Just in case you confirm that it's thrips like NoN suggested it might be, here's a few poor macros of them crawling on my sarrs, along with a life cycle chart I happen to have saved with those images. In actuality, these were no bigger than about 1 to 1.5mm long. Barely big enough to see with the naked eye...and they hide a lot.

Thrips are tiny, they don't jump, they move at a "medium pace" (they're not extremely quick but they are definitely not sluggish) and can often be found crawling in and out of the soil and on the pots themselves.

I used neem oil which killed them all in two separate treatments a week apart (I hit both the leaves and soil).

 

[Presto]

I agree with Frilleon...from what I can tell it looks like maybe a case of the inside growing faster than the outside of the leaf for whatever reason, so it split the outer tissue. Keep an eye on it, but I wouldn't worry.

 

[PolishJeff]

Let's see if this works.

Thanks for all the replies already!

 

[Jag]

I used neem oil which killed them all in two separate treatments a week apart (I hit both the leaves and soil).

When using neem, do you just barely spray the plant, or is it okay to drench the plant with neem?

I have never used neem before, and about 2 years ago I used Malathion and I guess I got a little carried away with the product and burned all the leaves from my CP's. I don't want the same thing to happen again. Thanks.

 

[Frilleon]

I use neem all the time with no ill effects. One thing I have heard is you can get neem that is not pure neem. Make sure it's pure neem like Einstein oil. It's cold press 100% neem oil. I use this on a regular basis. I also use coco wet as a wetting agent with no ill effect either.

 

[PolishJeff]

Thanks everyone for replying so quickly. I'm going to do the atypical thing and wait for another pitcher to grow and decide then. But just in case, I bought a bottle of 100% neem oil if it turns out to be thrips. I'll also quarantine this little rubra for further inspection.

THANKS EVERYONE! I'll post an update in a couple weeks with results (promise).

 

[chezilla]

Make sure you follow the directions on the bottle, if it needs diluted or not. The first time i used neem in the garden I burnt my skin and a whole row of bean plants by not diluting properly.

 

[PolishJeff]

Thanks for the heads up Chez. I'll make sure to follow the bottle's directions!

 

[PolishJeff]

Rubra Update!

Being the persistent/paranoid Sarr grower I am, I've scavenged the plant for any sign of pest. I found a few of these guys running around. Thrip?

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

Methinks that looks like a thrip.

BTW, they bite. It usually ends in the demise of the bug- whether by poisoning (we aren't good for them) or by getting swatted.